As Noel slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she was aware of was her pounding headache. The second was the fact that she didn't recognize her surroundings at all. Panic gripped her chest as she sprang up from the bed she'd been laying in.
"Where the hell am I?" she thought, taking in the room around her. "At least these people have good taste in decor" she said under her breath.
"Why thank you, I didn't think you'd notice!"
The effortlessly smooth voice came from the doorway of the bedroom.
"Anthony!? What are. . .what's going on?"
The fear and uncertainty of her situation hit Noel out of nowhere as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"Whoa, hey, hey it's okay! Everything's okay."
Anthony rushed over to her side, sitting down next to her on the bed while keeping a respectful distance.
"What happened, Anthony? What am I doing here?" Noel managed to choke out.
"You hit a snowbank and spun out. I was coming down Forest Avenue and saw your car."
"Oh, yeah, the car ran a red light, I swerved to try and miss him. Wait, then why am I here and why don't I remember getting here?"
"Well, after calling me every name you could think of, I finally convinced you to ride back here with me in my truck so I could hook up your car and pull it out of the snow. You passed out asleep on the ride here, so I brought you into the guestroom. "
Slowly, as Anthony spoke, it all started to come back to Noel. He'd pulled up and tried to help her get out of the car. She recalled insisting she didn't need his help & him telling her not to be so stubborn considering the snow that was coming down. She did remember calling him a few choice words as he swooped in, quite literally, and carried her back to his truck. The shock must have made her so tired she passed out.
Yes, that was it, the shock. It had nothing to do with feeling safe and comfortable in Anthony's arms. Nothing at all.
"I was just about to have some hot tea, you want a glass?" he asked. "Milk, sugar & two drops of honey?"
"No, thanks, I better get - wait, you remembered how I take my tea?"
If she wasn't mistaken, Noel could've sworn she saw him blush slightly.
"It was a good guess. . ."
"It's been 5 years, how could you - you know what, nevermind, I don't want to know! I'll see myself out."
"Noel, there's a snowstorm outside for God's sake, just sit down!"
Noel stood up and made her way towards the kitchen, which was just outside the guestroom.
"I'll be fine Anthony, just point me towards the front door here, damn this place is huge!"
She wasn't certain what was making her so frantic, but Noel just knew she couldn't be there with him, she couldn't go through any emotional issues that came with him.
"You're willing to risk killing yourself in a snowstorm just to punish me?"
"Will you stop?" Noel yelled, "Not everything is about you! Can you get that through your head? It's been five years, let it go! Thanks for the help but I have to go!"
Noel stomped out of the old Lennox farmhouse only to immediately be blasted in the face with a snow squall that knocked her squarely on her butt in the mounting snow. From the doorway she heard faint laughter turning into hysterical laughter, looking over to see Anthony nearly drop his mug.
Try as she might, Noel couldn't fight it and joined him in a good belly laugh, even as he threw his own coat & boots on and came out to help her up.
"Come on hard head!" Anthony said through laughter, as he extended a hand to help her up.
Suddenly feeling oddly playful, Noel took his hand. . . and pulled him down into the snow with her.
"Ahh! You little! That's it, you're getting into that house now!"
Except, instead of helping Noel up, Anthony pelted her with a handful of snow.
Giggling, Noel fell backwards into the snow, scooping up a handful of snow and dropping it down the back of his coat.
"Oh crap that's cold!" Anthony said, his back arching as the cold, wet snow slid down his back.
As she looked at him laughing, Noel was brought back to the way they used to laugh together. All the fun they'd had together.
"I love this song!"
"Lucky for you I do too!"
Noel and Anthony were cruising around Collinsville on a late Summer afternoon, the top down on Anthony's old Firebird.
"I'm so glad you're coming with me, Anthony!"
"Of course I am, I love you, where else would I be on my favorite girl's move-in day?"
Noel wasn't able to contain the girly giggle that escaped her mouth.
"I can't believe it! I'm off to college and I have the best boyfriend in the world! Does it get any better than this?"
Anthony laughed that warm, melodic laugh of his as he squeezed her leg. . .
That same, familiar laughter pulled Noel out of her trip down memory lane.
"Hey, space cadet, come on, the snow's picking up again!"
Noel looked up at Anthony, his outstretched hand right in front of her. Part of her wanted to just take that warm, familiar hand and let him help her up and into the farmhouse. The other part of her wanted to smack his hand away and remind him, yet again, just what a jerk he really was.
Sadly, the latter of the two was winning out that afternoon as Noel scrambled to regain her footing, treating his hand like it were the most offensive thing she'd ever seen in her life.
"Are my keys in the car?" she yelled over her shoulder, already marching back towards her car.
"Of course not, they're inside on the kitchen table. Noel, come on, stop before you get hurt!"
"Get me my keys Anthony, I'm only going to ask once!"
Anthony stared at her, this woman he had loved so much, who had at one time loved him too, now willing to risk life and limb to get away from him.
Filled with what was likely more hurt than anger, he trudged back to the farmhouse, scooping up her keys and marching back outside. He waited until he was just close enough to Noel before he threw her car keys, landing in a quiet thud in the mountains of snow.
"Enjoy your drive!" he yelled, his voice carrying on the wind gusts around them.
"You are such an asshole!" Noel yelled back
"Come up with something new, you've already told me that one repeatedly!"
As Noel climbed into her car she heard the front door of the farmhouse slam shut.
Grabbing her blanket and the book she was currently working on, Noel, freshly showered and bundled up, curled up on her couch. She was finding it very hard to focus on the book, her thoughts inevitably going back to Anthony.
At one point in time, Anthony Lewis meant more to Noel than anyone. He was her whole world, her future. Or so she thought.
When they met they were Sophomores in high school. Everything just clicked for them and though they had to deal with some heavy things, they always had each other's backs. They were always there. . .until they weren't.
"Just knock it off Noel!" she told herself as she put down her book and flipped the TV on, its light filling her tiny, dark apartment.
Because the truth was, Ruthie was right. Noel had never fully let go of Anthony. And his return to Collinsville was throwing her for a loop.
Meanwhile, at the farmhouse, Anthony was staring at his own TV, silently kicking himself for ever thinking that moving back home was a good idea. But what was he supposed to do now? He'd already put far too much money & sweat equity into the old Lennox farmhouse to simply put it on the market & leave. . .Right?
Two days later, Noel was at work, helping Kate, the Preschool teacher for whom she was an assistant, clean up after the kids who'd just left for the day.
"Okay, so maybe glitter reindeer wasn't the best idea!" Kate said
"Huh? I'm sorry, what?"
"You okay Noel? You've been kind of out of it for the past couple days."
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the return of Anthony Lewis, would it?"
Noel looked up at her friend.
"You know, sometimes I hate how perceptive you are!"
"Don't give me too much credit", Kate said, "I ran into Kelly Campbell at the grocery store the other day!"
"Ugh, I swear that woman is like a walking, talking 'US Weekly'!"
"Don't feel too bad, she does it to everyone. Did you know she spread some rumor that the only reason Teddy and I got married was because I was pregnant?!"
"Kate, you & Ted got married in April, Melody was born in September. That's not gossip, that's basic math."
"I never said I wasn't pregnant when we got married, but I'm saying it's not the only reason we got married!"
Kate Caulfield was a grade ahead of Noel in school but they still managed to become fast friends when Kate's family moved onto the same block as Noel's family when the girls were in middle school.
"So, is this Anthony related?"
"I may have run into him a time or two." Noel said, scooping up a handful of scraps of red construction paper.
"How'd that go? What's it been, like 5 years since you saw him?"
"Yeah, give or take a few months. And it was awkward & tense and ugh!" Noel said, combing her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"Maybe this is all like, a sign or something!"
"A sign of what?"
Kate put down her dustpan and turned to Noel.
"Just hear me out. Maybe this is like, a sign that you and Anthony are meant to work things out!"
Dumbfounded, Noel just stared at her for a moment before sarcastically replying;
"Oh yeah, that's like, totally, what it is!"
As soon as Noel returned to sweeping, Kate placed her hand on the broom handle, effectively stopping her from ignoring her or avoiding the subject.
"Noel, you can be a smartass all you want but don't forget, I was there, I know how hard losing him was on you. I know damn good and well you're not as over him as you'd like everyone to believe."
Noel hated when other people called her out on her bullshit. Not that she was a big bullshitter, but when she did, it was for a very important reason. The question now was, was Anthony still a very important reason?
"Anthony, son, it's good to have you back home but at this rate you're going to buy out my whole store!"
"Hey, I can always take my business elsewhere Mac!"
Mac Turner owned the small local hardware store in Collinsville. There was a Home Depot about 10 minutes outside of town but Anthony tried to keep his business local.
"Ha! I know you're not referring to anything within the Collinsville city limits cause I'm it!" Mac laughed as Anthony rounded a corner to look for some paint. Suddenly, he heard a warm, familiar voice call out to him.
"Anthony? Is that you?"
When he turned, sure enough, there was Sharon Daniels.
"Mrs. Daniels, hi!"
"Oh, with the formalities! How are you honey? I hear we get you back in Collinsville!" she said as she wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fixing up my great-aunt's farmhouse. "
Sharon pulled back, taking an appraising look at Anthony.
"That's great! That was always such a beautiful old farm! It would figure we get you back just as we're about to lose Noel!"
This definitely had his attention.
"What do you mean, lose her?"
"You didn't hear? Noel's moving to France for culinary school. She leaves just after the new year!"
Somehow, Anthony felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him. Yet, all he could come up with in response was;
"Oh, well good for her. That was always her dream."
"Yes, it was", Sharon sighed, "I just wish she didn't have to move all the way to France to pursue it!"
Anthony simply nodded in agreement as he placed a can of grey paint in his cart.
"Say, why don't you come over for Christmas Eve dinner? That is, if you don't have plans of course!"
"Oh, I don't, but I don't want to impose on you! I'll be fine!" Anthony replied, hoping desperately that Mrs. Daniels would just take the hint & drop the subject. No such luck.
"Oh nonsense! You're not imposing on anyone and I'm sure Noel would be glad to see you."
Oh, if only she knew how wildly untrue that statement was.
"Oh, I highly doubt that Mrs. Daniels. Listen, I'm fine, really, but thank you for the invite!"
Looking slightly disappointed, she smiled before reaching in her purse and pulling out a small notebook.
"Do people still do that?" Anthony thought as he watched her take out a pen and jot something down on a piece of paper before tearing it out and folding it in two.
"Here, here's our number. If you change your mind, just give Robert & I a call!"
Nervously taking the paper, Anthony tucked it into his jeans pocket before saying;
"Umm, thank you, I'll think about it".
The next day saw yet another snowstorm passing through Chicago. This storm, however, was bringing with it some ice as well.
It was officially December 8th. This according to not only Noel's phone but the handmade Advent Calendar her mother had made when she & Jasmine were little girls.
As Noel was adjusting the garland on one of the Christmas trees, she heard Jasmine walk in the room.
Without even looking in her direction, Noel said "I'll be out of your way in just a minute!"
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you. . ."